Bop, sway, groove, sashay: where to go dancing in Montréal

Achieve dance floor rapture to the latest in EDM, hip-hop, and electro at these clubbing go-tos. The big names in EDM show up at New City Gas, a former converted factory that’s now a massive concert hall with a sound system to match for energetic party-goers. Electronic and hip hop merge at one of the city’s most talked-about clubs, Newspeak, in downtown Montréal’s Quartier des spectacles – dance to cutting-edge DJs, hip-hop artists, live performances by indie-electro bands and more.

Nearby in Old Montréal, international and local DJs rub shoulders with the city’s beautiful people as the drinks flow and the dance floors shake: dress up and get ready to dance at sexy subterranean lounge spot Velvet, hip restaurant and underground dance club Flyjin, sleek and vibey Francesco's Discoteca, and high-energy La Voûte Montréal (located in the mysterious vault of the historic Royal Bank of Canada). Not far from Old Montreal in St. Henri, check out cocktail bar Baby Far West – whether you go for the mixology experience of happy hour or to dance in the welcoming intimate atmosphere.

Dinner and dancing never looked so good or felt so cool: stay for both (or turn happy hour into a late night) at Club Pelicano, serving up great food upstairs while the dance floor comes alive by night downstairs, at enchanted downtown forest speakeasy Soubois, and at Sans Soleil Bar, a bar-restaurant-dance-club right below Japanese restaurant Fleurs et Cadeaux in Chinatown, where you can sip cocktails, sake, and natural wines as you groove to classics and electro on vinyl.

Dance on and on till the break of dawn in these late-night hotspots. Underground house, techno and dub keep the grooves smooth and dancers happy at: Le Salon Daomé in the Plateau on Mont-Royal Avenue and Bar Datcha in Mile End are as cool as they come, mixing the latest sounds with all-time classics. Nearby venue spaces Bar le Ritz P.B.D. and Théatre Fairmount also frequently host a diverse array of dance parties alongside their usual lineups of live music performances.

Find eclectic music, deep beats and community vibes at Système on the St. Hubert Plaza: tucked among the shops and restaurants, this cool space with ties to Arbutus Records boasts a stellar retro sound system and a roster of DJs from Montreal and beyond – plus there’s food, bubbly and cocktails to fuel your good time. Lucky for us, St. Hubert Plaza also boasts another one of the city’s coolest and community-oriented dance venues, Ausgang Plaza, where local artists throw record release parties, DJs spin one-of-a-kind theme nights and festivals go into party mode. Keeping with the theme of cool multipurpose spaces, L’idéal on Ontario Street East is part wine bar, part bistro, part recording studio, and part party venue with its spacious dance floor.

When last call at 3 a.m. just isn’t late enough and you’ve got plenty of dancing energy left, look no further than the event space Ste-Catherine Hall or club Stereo, two world-class afterhours venues in the city, featuring electronic producers and DJs from around the world as well as local favourites. For even more late-night dancing action, watch for hyped DJ sets and parties at the Society for Arts & Technology (SAT) (both on the main floor and in the immersive dome upstairs), Eastern Bloc and other loft-like spaces around the city that host all-night music and dancing events.

Be it punk, R&B, or Latin beats that do the trick, a dive, dance bar, or open terrasse waits for you. For hip hop, house and R&B check out the nightly options at live music venue and dance club Le Belmont. Or dive into the LGBTQ+ Village nightlife experience on the rooftop patios of Club Unity or Complexe Sky, a three-storey club where electro, disco, hip hop, Latin beats, and more give everyone something to dance about.

Let Montréal’s talented drag queens entertain and delight you in their own fabulous ways at a drag show and then dance the night away! Go directly to Cabaret Mado on Sainte-Catherine Street, where the customers might just be as fab as the drag queens, and to Bar Le Cocktail just down the street.

For a different countercultural vibe just a few blocks away, Sainte-Catherine Street watering hole Foufounes Électriques has been the punk-rock choice for cheap beer and live music downtown for decades – if your dancing is more like moshing, this is the place for you. Heading into the Plateau, lose yourself amongst the music and revellers of the Main at any one of St. Laurent Boulevard’s dance-focused nightlife spots such as École Privée, Apt. 200, or Le Rouge Bar. Also on St. Laurent Boulevard is the lively club Barbossa, with both themed DJ nights and live music that runs the gamut from reggae to rap to latin jazz.

For those in in the mood for nostalgia, rock down to Electric Avenue on Crescent Street for a night of ‘80s and ‘90s hits in both English and French on the club’s iconic light-up dance floor. Similarly, Prince-Arthur Street mainstay Café Campus, which has been a party locale since 1967, is especially well-known for its retro-themed dance nights on Tuesdays and Thursdays.